Bryan Cranston Is Reportedly Writing A Malcolm In The Middle Reboot
It's odd to think that there's a whole generation of people who only know Bryan Cranston as Walter White on "Breaking Bad," and not as the lovable sitcom dad from "Malcolm in the Middle." It was his role as the kind-hearted albeit often inept Hal Wilkerson on the show that had many scratching their heads when he was announced to lead "Breaking Bad," with the juxtaposition between the two roles often brought up in early reviews of the groundbreaking AMC series.
"Malcolm in the Middle" was a mainstay in the early '00s, nabbing a Peabody Award, seven Emmy Awards, a Grammy Award, and seven Golden Globe nominations throughout its run. The show was mainly focused on the titular middle child named Malcolm, played to perfection by Frankie Muniz.
Muniz hasn't been doing much acting lately, but he's set to appear in the VH1 revival of "The Surreal Life," a reality show that puts less-than-A-list celebrities in a house together because, well, why the hell not? Muniz recently spoke with Fox News Digital about the new show, and of course, was asked about his time on "Malcolm in the Middle." Buried in the interview was a shocking revelation that not only is Bryan Cranston hoping to revisit the Wilkerson family with a reboot of the series, but that he's already working on a script.
"I know Bryan Cranston is really into the idea and he's kind of heading writing the script and getting everything rolling," Muniz said. "So, there might be something. I would be down 100 percent."
The return of the Wilkersons
Cranston recently starred in the Paramount+ exclusive scammer film "Jerry and Marge Go Large," playing a character who oddly feels like the lovechild of Walter White and Hal Wilkerson. Perhaps this is a motivating factor for Cranston to return to his sitcom dad roots, but after playing such a career-defining villain, it has to feel nice to just be a quirky ol' father figure again.
Muniz was a youngster when the show was running, and admits it hasn't been until recently that he's finally understood what the show was really about. "We did seven seasons, 151 episodes," he said. "I didn't really watch the show when it was on, but I've now since watched the show with my wife. [...] I realized, 'Wow, that's what we were making' ... I can separate myself from being on it and watching it as a fan." Although the show has been off the air since 2006, Muniz said, "I would love to know what the family's up to."
Show creator Linwood Boomer hasn't been up to much the last decade, and a majority of the "Malcolm in the Middle" cast outside Cranston and his on-screen wife Jane Kaczmarek have also fallen out of the spotlight. In an odd way, a return to "Malcolm in the Middle" after all these years would be like the real-life version of the show-within-a-show plot of Hulu's "Reboot," which sees the same cast of a popular sitcom return to the characters years later when their careers have all gone in wildly different directions.
"I don't know — we'll see what happens," Muniz teased. Obviously, Cranston's desire doesn't immediately equate to a network greenlight, but it's still fun to think about.